A Midsummer Night’s Dream

It’s hard to improve on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s flawless theatrical masterpiece, but it’s also enticing to imagine what it would be like if the tale of feuding fairies, magic flowers and royal weddings were set to song. The Houston Grand Opera will fulfill this fantasy with an opera based on the play, with music by the late British composer Benjamin Britten (the production is part of a five-year series of Britten’s operas). Welsh countertenor Iestyn Davies makes his company debut as Oberon, and Laura Claycomb returns to the HGO stage as Tytania. Throw in sweeping, ethereal sets, mischievous sprites, a children’s chorus, and stage combat so elaborate the show needed a “fight director,” and Shakespeare himself might have been left wondering why he didn’t ditch the meter for the scales. 7:30 pm. January 23 and 31, and February 4 and 6. 2 p.m. January 25. Wortham Center, 500 Texas. For information, call 713-228-6737 or visit www.houstongrandopera.org. $25 to $205.

Fri., Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 25, 2 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m., 2009